I’ve shared over the years that I have family members, and friends, who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law after committing ugly acts. Every now and again, I ask one of them to give their take on a particular issue in the news. Recently, I asked one of those family members – who is now married and no longer involved in the lifestyle he had once chosen – about the proliferation of guns, in the wake of the 74th school shooting.

“How did you guys get all those guns?” I asked.

“Steal,” he said.

“From who?”

He said from anyone – but especially from homes where they believed there was a gun. That included the cars of police officers parked in front of their homes.

“Couldn’t be scared; had to get what you need by any means necessary.”

Two:

You may have missed it, but the Supreme Court made it a little easier to stop the proliferation of guns. The Court made it clear that you cannot purchase a gun for someone else, in so-called straw purchases, even if the other person is eligible to be a gun owner. In surveys, criminals said they got guns, not just from stealing, but from pass-along buys from family members and friends. If we are to get serious about reducing gun violence, we have to deal with that reality, too.